Who is Sverre Nypan? Aston Villa hoping to beat Arsenal to signing of 18-year-old wonderkid

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€12m market value 

©TM/IMAGO

The summer transfer window is just a few months away and Premier League clubs are already getting their budgets in order to begin the tussle for Europe’s most sought-after players. According to new reports in England, one such transfer target could be none other than Rosenborg midfield talent Sverre Nypan, who apparently has no less than three Premier League giants racing to secure his signature before the start of next season. 

Who wants to sign Sverre Nypan? 

According to David Ornstein at the Athletic, Aston Villa have not only joined the race to sign Nypan but have quickly moved to the front of the pack in a bid to strike a deal with his Norwegian club. According to the publication, Nypan held talks with the Birmingham club in the winter before deciding to stay put in the Eliteserien. However, Villa are reportedly optimistic of Nypan agreeing personal terms with the midfielder and striking a deal to sign Nypan, amid interest from domestic rivals.

If Villa hope to complete the signing of the 18-year-old talent, they’ll need to work quickly as Nypan has been heavily linked with moves elsewhere. The aformentioned publication previously reported that Arsenal were also working on a deal to sign the Rosenborg talent, with an eye on Nypan offering a supporting role to Martin Ødegaard next season as a back-up playmaker in Mikel Arteta’s side. And, if that wasn’t enough competition for Villa to content with, Nypan has also been heavily linked with a move to Manchester City too. 

The player was in attendance at the Etihad for Man City’s 3-1 win against Chelsea in January, but it seems as though the Villa Park have taken the lead in signing Nypan. Already with a market value of €12 million, Nypan is regarded as one of the best prospects in Europe, having made his Norwegian league debut in 2022 aged just 15 – only six players have played at a younger age, with Ødegaard being the youngest. In May 2023, Nypan became the youngest player to score in a league match for Rosenborg at just 16 years and 145 days old. So what kind of prospect could Aston Villa, Arsenal or Man City be signing? And how high is the ceiling for Nypan? With expert insight from Norway, we attempt to answer those questions.

What type of player is Sverre Nypan?

Remarkably, Nypan has already made over 60 first-team appearances for Rosenborg, and he has an impressive record for a teenage midfielder. In those matches, he has scored 14 goals and provided 11 assists. In the league alone, he has averaged a goal or assist every 178 minutes – a terrific record for a central midfielder. “Nypan is a central/offensive midfielder with an exceptionally high football IQ for his age,” explained Bastian Schmitz, Market Value admin for Norway. “He is two-footed, creative and has a good passing game – many of them are smart passes. He handles the ball well and also has a very good work rate.”

At such a young age, Nypan’s final position still appears slightly undetermined. He has been used in a variety of roles in Norway as Schmitz reveals, “This season he has been used as a ‘false 9’ and as an attacking midfielder, although the deeper position suits him much better. His body appears to be still growing and he had a few growing problems at the start of the season which made it harder for him to get going. He showed fluctuating performances at that time.” According to Transfermarkt’s data, Nypan has played 37 games as a central midfielder, seven as a centre-forward and four as an attacking midfielder. And depending on which English club he opts for in the summer, his future development could come down to where the likes of Villa, Arsenal or Man City need him to fill in for their squads in the Premier League. 

Haaland, Ødegaard and now Nypan? 

While few Premier League fans will know much about the young midfielder, it will come as no surprise to see no less than three English giants tripping over one another to sign another prospect from Norway. In recent years, the Scandinavian country has become a hotbed of excellent players and that is perfectly showcased throughout the English top-flight. Whether it be Sander Berge at Fulham, Wolves forward Jørgen Strand Larsen, the aformentioned Ødegaard at Arsenal or Man City talisman Erling Haaland, Nypan seems to be coming from a growing stock of top-class players from Norway. 

Although the Rosenborg talent is still a relatively unknown quantity, the transfer fee he’s likely to demand could quickly find itself in the record books. He’ll almost certainly go for twice Rosenborg’s current highest transfer fee ever, which remains John Carew‘s €8.5m move to Valencia in 2001. And when we consider the highest ever transfer fees paid for Norwegian players in the table above, it’s not hard to envisage Nypan breaking into the top 10 list and perhaps even coming in ahead of Berge, if a bidding war does break out for his signature in the summer.